THE  TAILOR 
OF  GLOUCESTER 


DEAR    FREDA: 

Because  you  are  fond  of  fairy 
tales,  and  have  been  ill,  I  have 
made  you  a  story  all  for  yourself — 
a  new  one  that  nobody  has  read  be- 
fore. 

And  the  queerest  thing  about  it 
is — that  I  heard  it  in  Gloucester- 
shire, and  that  it  is  true — at  least 
about  the  tailor,  the  waistcoat,  and 
the 

"No  more  twist!" 

Christmas. 


cuuu- 
rSYCH. 


THE  TAILOR  OF 
GLOUCESTER 


BY 

BEATRIX  POTTER 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  TALE  OF  PETER  RABBIT,"  &c. 


"I'LL   BE   AT  CHARGES   FOR  A   LOOKING-GLASS; 
AND   ENTERTAIN  A  SCORE  OR  TWO   OF  TAILORS." 

Richard  III 


FREDERICK    WARNE    &    CO.,    INC. 
NEW    YORK 


1103 


RY 


COPYRIGHT,  1903 

BY 
FREDERICK  WARNE  y  Co. 


COPYRIGHT  RENEWED,    193! 


THE  TAILOR  OF  GLOUCESTER 

IN  the  time  of  s  vords  and  periwigs 
and  full-skirted  coats  with  flowered 
lappets — when  gentlemen  wore  ruffles, 
and  gold-laced  waistcoats  of  paduasoy 
and  taffeta — there  lived  a  tailor  in 
Gloucester. 

He  sat  in  the  window  of  a  little 
shop  in  Westgate  Street,  cross-legged 
on  a  table  from  morning  till  dark. 

All  day  long  while  the  light  lasted  he 
sewed  and  snippetted,  piecing  out  his 
satin,  and  pompadour,  and  lutestring; 
stuffs  had  strange  names,  and  were 
very  expensive  in  the  days  of  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester. 

913745 


io         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

But  although  he  sewed  fine  silk  for 
his  neighbours,  he  himself  was  very, 
very  poor — a  little  old  man  in  spec- 
tacles, with  a  pinched  face,  old  crook- 
ed fingers,  and  a  s'.iit  of  threadbare 
clothes. 

He  cut  his  coats  without  waste; 
according  to  his  embroidered  cloth, 
they  were  very  small  ends  and  snippets 
that  lay  about  upon  the  table—  "Too 
narrow  breadths  for  nought — except 
waistcoats  for  mice/'  said  the  tailor. 

One  bitter  cold  day  near  Christmas- 
time the  tailor  began  to  make  a  coat 
(a  coat  of  cherry-coloured  corded 
silk  embroidered  with  pansies  and  roses) 
and  a  cream-coloured  satin  waistcoat 
(trimmed  with  gauze  and  green 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        15 

worsted  chenille)  for  the  Mayor  of 
Gloucester. 

The  tailor  worked  and  worked,  and 
he  talked  to  himself.  He  measured  the 
silk,  and  turned  it  round  and  round,  and 
trimmed  it  into  shape  with  his  shears; 
the  table  was  all  littered  with  cherry- 
coloured  snippets. 

"No  breadth  at  all,  and  cut  on  the 
cross ;  it  is  no  breadth  at  all ;  tippets  for 
mice  and  ribbons  for  mobs !  for  mice  I" 
said  the  Tailor  of  Gloucester. 

When  the  snow-flakes  came  down 
against  the  small  leaded  window-panes 
and  sfaut  out  the  light,  the  tailor  had 
done  his  day's  work;  all  the  silk  and 
satin  lay  cut  out  upon  the  table. 

There  were    twelve    pieces    for    the 


1 6        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

coat  and  four  pieces  for  the  waistcoat; 
and  there  were  pocket-flaps  and  cuffs 
and  buttons,  all  in  order.  For  the 
lining  of  the  coat  there  was  fine  yellow 
taffeta,  and  for  the  buttonholes  of  the 
waistcoat  there  was  cherry-coloured 
twist.  And  everything  was  ready  to 
sew  together  in  the  morning,  all  meas- 
ured and  sufficient — except  that  there 
was  wanting  just  one  single  skein  of 
cherry-coloured  twisted  silk. 

The  tailor  came  out  of  his  shop  at 
dark,  for  he  did  not  sleep  there  at 
nights;  he  fastened  the  window  and 
locked  the  door,  and  took  away  the  key. 
No  one  lived  there  at  nights  but  little 
brown  mice,  and  they  ran  in  and  out 
without  any  keys ! 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        21 

For  behind  the  wooden  wainscots  of 
all  the  old  houses  in  Gloucester,  there 
are  little  mouse  staircases  and  secret 
trap-doors ;  and  the  mice  run  from  house 
to  house  through  those  long,  narrow 
passages;  they  can  run  all  over  the 
town  without  going  into  the  streets. 

But  the  tailor  came  out  of  his  shop 
and  shuffled  home  through  the  snow; 
he  lived  quite  near  by  in  College  Court, 
next  the  doorway  to  College  Green. 
And  although  it  was  not  a  big  house, 
the  tailor  was  so  poor  he  only  rented 
the  kitchen. 

He  lived  alone  with  his  cat;  it  was 
called  Simpkin. 

Now  all  day  long  while  the  tailor 
was  out  at  work,  Simpkin  kept  house 


22         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

by  himself ;  and  he  also  was  fond  of  the 
mice,  though  he  gave  them  no  satin  for 
coats ! 

"Miaw?"  said  the  cat  when  the  tailor 
opened  the  door,  "miaw?" 

The  tailor  replied:  "Simpkin,  we  shall 
make  our  fortune,  but  I  am  worn  to  a 
ravelling.  Take  this  groat  (which  is 
our  last  fourpence),  and,  Simpkin,  take 
a  china  pipkin,  buy  a  penn'orth  of  bread, 
a  penn'orth  of  milk,  and  a  penn'orth  of 
sausages.  And  oh,  Simpkin,  with  the 
last  penny  of  our  fourpence  buy  me  one 
penn'orth  of  cherry-coloured  silk.  But 
do  not  lose  the  last  penny  of  the  four- 
pence,  Simpkin,  or  I  am  undone  and 
worn  to  a  thread-paper,  for  I  have  NO 
MORE  TWIST/' 


26 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        27 

Then  Simpkin  again  said  "Miaw!" 
and  took  the  groat  and  the  pipkin,  and 
went  out  into  the  dark. 

The  tailor  was  very  tired  and  begin- 
ning to  be  ill.  He  sat  down  by  the 
hearth  and  talked  to  himself  about 
that  wonderful  coat. 

"I  shall  make  my  fortune — to  be 
cut  bias — the  Mayor  of  Gloucester  is  to 
be  married  on  Christmas  Day  in  the 
morning,  and  he  hath  ordered  a  coat 
and  an  embroidered  waistcoat — to  be 
lined  with  yellow  taffeta — and  the  taf- 
feta sufficeth ;  there  is  no  more  left  over 
in  snippets  than  will  serve  to  make  tip- 
pets for  mice- 
Then  the  tailor  started;  for  sud- 
denly, interrupting  him,  from  the 


28        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

dresser  at  the  other  side  of  the  kitchen 
came  a  number  of  little  noises — 

Tip  tap,  tip  tap,  tip  tap  tip! 

"Now  what  can  that  be?"  said  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester,  jumping  up  from 
his  chair.  The  dresser  was  covered 
with  crockery  and  pipkins,  willow 
pattern  plates,  and  tea-cups  and  mugs. 

The  tailor  crossed  the  kitchen,  and 
stood  quite  still  beside  the  dresser, 
listening,  and  peering  through  his 
spectacles.  Again  from  under  a  tea- 
cup came  those  funny  little  noises — 

Tip  tap,  tip  tap,  tip  tap  tip! 

"This  is  very  peculiar/'  said  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester,  and  he  lifted 
up  the  tea-cup  which  was  upside 
down. 


3.2 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        33 

Out  stepped  a  little  live  lady  mouse, 
and  made  a  courtesy  to  the  tailor !  Then 
she  hopped  away  down  off  the  dresser, 
and  under  the  wainscot. 

The  tailor  sat  down  again  by  the 
fire,  warming  his  poor  cold  hands,  and 
mumbling  to  himself : — 

"The  waistcoat  is  cut  out  from 
peach-coloured  satin — tambour  stitch 
and  rose-buds  in  beautiful  floss  silk! 
Was  I  wise  to  entrust  my  last  four- 
pence  to  Simpkin?  One-and-twenty 
buttonholes  of  cherry-coloured  twist!"" 

But  all  at  once,  from  the  dresser, 
there  came  other  little  noises — 

Tip  tap,  tip  tap,  tip  tap  tip! 

"This  is  passing  extraordinary!" 
aid  the  Tailor  of  Gloucester,  and 


34        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

turned  over  another  tea-cup,  which  was 
upside  down. 

Out  stepped  a  little  gentleman  mouse, 
and  made  a  bow  to  the  tailor ! 

And  then  from  all  over  the  dresser 
came  a  chorus  of  little  tappings,  all 
sounding  together,  and  answering  one 
another,  like  watch-beetles  in  an  old 
worm-eaten  window-shutter — 

Tip  tap,  tip  tap,  tip  tap  tip! 

And  out  from  under  tea-cups  and 
from  under  bowls  and  basins,  stepped 
other  and  more  little  mice,  who  hopped 
away  down  off  the  dresser  and  under 
the  wainscot. 

The  tailor  sat  down,  close  over  the 
fire,  lamenting:  "O  n  e-a  n  d-t  w  e  n  t  y 
buttonholes  of  cherry-coloured  silkl 


35 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        39 

To  be  finished  by  noon  of  Saturday: 
and  this  is  Tuesday  evening.  Was  it 
right  to  let  loose  those  mice,  undoubt- 
edly the  property  of  Simpkin?  Alack, 
I  am  undone,  for  I  have  no  more 

twist  r 

The  little  mice  came  out  again  and 
listened  to  the  tailor;  they  took  notice 
of  the  pattern  of  that  wonderful  coat. 
They  whispered  to  one  another  about 
the  taffeta  lining  and  about  little 
mouse  tippets. 

And  then  suddenly  they  all  ran 
away  together  down  the  passage 
behind  the  wainscot,  squeaking  and 
calling  to  one  another  as  they  ran  from 
house  to  house;  and  not  one  mouse 
was  left  in  the  tailor's  kitchen  when 


4O        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

Simpkin  came  back  with  the  pipkin  of 
milk! 

Simpkin  opened  the  door  and  bounced 
in,  with  an  angry  "G-r-r-miaw !" 
like  a  cat  that  is  vexed;  for  he  hated 
the  snow,  and  there  was  snow  in  his 
ears,  and  snow  in  his  collar  at  the 
back  of  his  neck.  He  put  down  the 
loaf  and  the  sausages  upon  the  dresser, 
and  sniffed. 

"Simpkin/'  said  the  tailor,  "where  is 
my  twist?" 

But  Simpkin  set  down  the  pipkin  of 
milk  upon  the  dresser,  and  looked  suspi- 
ciously at  the  tea-cups.  He  wanted  his 
supper  of  little  fat  mouse ! 

"Simpkin,"  said  the  tailor,  "where  is 
my  TWIST?" 


44 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        45 

But  Simpkin  hid  a  little  parcel  pri- 
vately in  the  tea-pot,  and  spit  and. 
growled  at  the  tailor;  and  if  Simpkin 
had  been  able  to  talk,  he  would  have 
asked:  "Where  is  my  MOUSE?" 

"Alack,  I  am  undone!"  said  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester,  and  went  sadly 
to  bed. 

All  that  night  long  Simpkin  hunted 
and  searched  through  the  kitchen, 
peeping  into  cupooards  and  under  the 
wainscot,  and  into  the  tea-pot  where  he 
had  hidden  that  twist ;  but  still  he  found 
never  a  mouse! 

And  whenever  the  tailor  muttered  and 
calked  in  his  sleep,  Simpkin  said :  "Miaw- 
ger-r-w-s-s-ch !"  and  made  strange, 
horrid  noises,  as  cats  do  at  night. 


46         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

For  the  poor  old  tailor  was  very  ill 
with  a  fever,  tossing  and  turning  in 
his  four-post  bed;  and  still  in  his 
dreams  he  mumbled:  "No  more  twist! 
no  more  twist !" 

All  that  day  he  was  ill,  and  the,  next 
day,  and  the  next;  and  what  should 
become  of  the  cherry-coloured  coat? 
In  the  tailor's  shop  in  Westgate  Street 
the  embroidered  silk  and  satin  lay  cut 
out  upon  the  table — one-and-twenty 
buttonholes — and  who  should  come 
to  sew  them,  when  the  window  was 
barred,  and  the  door  was  fast  locked? 

But  that  does  not  hinder  the  little 
brown  mice;  they  run  in  and  out  with- 
out any  keys  through  all  the  old  houses 
in  Gloucester ! 


5° 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        51 

Out-of-doors  the  market  folks  went 
trudging  through  the  snow  to  buy  their 
geese  and  turkeys,  and  to  bake  their 
Christmas  pies;  but  there  would  be 
no  Christmas  dinner  for  Simpkin  and 
the  poor  old  tailor  of  Gloucester. 

The  tailor  lay  ill  for  three  days  and 
nights ;  and  then  it  was  Christmas  Eve, 
and  very  late  at  night.  The  moon 
climbed  up  over  the  roofs  and  chim- 
neys, and  looked  down  over  the  gate- 
way into  College  Court.  There  were  no 
lights  in  the  windows,  nor  any  sound  in 
the  houses ;  all  the  city  of  Gloucester  was 
fast  asleep  under  the  snow. 

And  still  Simpkin  wanted  his  mice, 
and  mewed  as  he  stood  beside  the 
four-post  bed. 


52         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

But  it  is  in  the  old  story  that  all  the 
beasts  can  talk  in  the  night  between 
Christmas  Eve  and  Christmas  Day  in 
the  morning  (though  there  are  very 
few  folk  that  can  hear  them,  or  know 
what  it  is  that  they  say). 

When  the  Cathedral  clock  struck 
twelve  there  was  an  answer — like  an 
echo  of  the  chimes  —  and  Simpkin 
heard  it,  and  came  out  of  the  tailor's 
door,  and  wandered  about  in  the  snow. 

From  all  the  roofs  and  gables  and 
old  wooden  houses  in  Gloucester 
came  a  thousand  merry  voices  singing 
the  old  Christmas  rhymes — all  the  old 
songs  that  ever  I  heard  of,  and  some 
that  1  don't  know,  like  Whittington's 
bells. 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        57 


First  and  loudest  the  cocks  cried 
out:  "Dame,  get  up,  and  bake  your 
pies!" 

"Oh,  dilly,  dilly,  dilly!"  sighed 
Simpkin. 

And  now  in  a  garret  there  were  lights 
and  sounds  of  dancing,  and  cats  came 
from  over  the  way. 

"Hey,  diddle,  diddle,  the  cat  and  the 
fiddle!  All  the  cats  in  Gloucester — 
except  me,"  said  Simpkin, 

Under  the  wooden  eaves  the  starlings 
and  sparrows  sang  of  Christmas  pies; 
the  jackdaws  woke  up  in  the  Cathe- 
dral tower;  and  although  it  was  the 
middle  of  the  night  the  throstles  and 
robins  sang;  the  air  was  quite  full  of 
little  twittering  tunes. 


58         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

But  it  was  all  rather  provoking  to 
poor  hungry  Simpkin. 

Particularly  he  was  vexed  with  some 
little  shrill  voices  from  behind  a  wooden 
lattice.  I  think  that  they  were  bats, 
because  they  always  have  very  small 
voices — especially  in  a  black  frost, 
when  they  talk  in  their  sleep,  like  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester. 

They  said  something  mysterious  that 
sounded  like — 

"Buzz,  quoth  the  blue  fly;  hum,  quoth  the  bee; 
Buzz  and  hum  they  cry,  and  so  do  we!" 

and   Simpkin  went  away  shaking  his 
ears  as  if  he  had  a  bee  in  his  bonnet. 

From  the  tailor's  shop  in  Westgate 
came  a  glow  of  light;  and  when  Simp- 
kin  crept  up  to  peep  in  at  the  window 


59 


62 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        63 

it  was  full  of  candles.  There  was  a 
snippeting  of  scissors,  and  snappeting 
of  thread;  and  little  mouse  voices  sang 
loudly  and  gaily : 

"Four-and-twenty  tailors 
Went  to  catch  a  snail, 
The  best  man  amongst  them 
Durst  not  touch  her  tail; 
She  put  out  her  horns 
Like  a  little  kyloe  cow. 
Run,  tailors,  run !  or  she'll  have  you  all  e'en  now !" 

Then    without    a    pause    the    little 
mouse  voices  went  on  again : 

"Sieve  my  lady's   oatmeal, 
Grind  my  lady's  flour, 
Put  it  in  a  chestnut, 
Let  it  stand  an  hour " 

"Mew!     Mew!"    interrupted     Simp- 
kin,    and    he    scratched    at    the    door. 


64        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

But    the    key    was    under    the    tailor's 
pillow ;  he  could  not  get  in. 

The   little   mice    only   laughed,    and 
tried  another  tune — 

"Three  little  mice  sat  down  to  spin, 
Pussy  passed  by  and  she  peeped  in. 
What  are  you  at,  my  fine  little  men? 
Making  coats  for  gentlemen. 
Shall  I  come  in  and  cut  off  your  threads? 
Oh,  no,  Miss  Pussy,  you'd  bite  off  our  heads !" 

"Mew !  Mew !"  cried  Simpkin. 
"Hey  diddle  dinketty!"  answered  the 
little  mice — 

"Hey  diddle  dinketty,  poppetty  pet! 
The  merchants  of  London  they  wear  scarlet; 
Silk  in  the  collar,  and  gold  in  the  hem, 
So  merrily  march  the  merchantmen!" 

They  clicked  their  thimbles  to  mark  the 
time,   but  none   of   the   songs   pleased 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        69 

Simpkin;  he  sniffed  and  mewed  at  the 
door  of  the  shop. 

"And  then  I  bought 
A  pipkin  and  a  popkin, 
A  slipkin  and  a   ^opkin, 
All  for  one  farthing 

and  upon  the  kitchen  dresser!"  added 
the  rude  little  mice. 

"Mew!  scratch!  scratch!"  scuffled 
Simpkin  on  the  window-sill;  while  the 
little  mice  inside  sprang  to  their  feet, 
and  all  began  to  shout  at  once  in  little 
twittering  voices:  "No  more  twist! 
No  more  twist!"  And  they  barred 
up  the  window-shutters  and  shut  out 
Simpkin. 

But  still  through  the  nicks  in  the 
shutters  he  could  hear  the  click  of 


70         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

thimbles,  and  little  mouse  voices  sing- 
ing: 

"No  more  twist !    No  more  twist !" 

Simpkin  came  away  from  the  shop 
and  went  home  considering  in  his 
mind.  He  found  the  poor  old  tailor 
without  fever,  sleeping  peacefully. 

Then  Simpkin  went  on  tip-toe  and 
took  a  little  parcel  of  silk  out  of  the 
tea-pot;  and  looked  at  it  in  the  moon- 
light; and  he  felt  quite  ashamed  of  his 
badness  compared  with  those  good 
little  mice ! 

When  the  tailor  awoke  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  first  thing  which  he  saw,  upon 
the  patchwork  quilt,  wras  a  skein  of 
cherry-coloured  twisted  silk,  and  beside 
his  bed  stood  the  repentant  Simpkin  1 


74 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        75 

"Alack,  I  am  worn  to  a  ravelling/* 
said  the  tailor  of  Gloucester,  "but  I  have 
my  twist !" 

The  sun  was  shining  on  the  snow 
when  the  tailor  got  up  and  dressed,  and 
came  out  into  the  street  with  Simpkin 
running  before  him. 

The  starlings  whistled  on  the  diim- 
ney  stacks,  and  the  throstles  and  robins 
sang — but  they  sang  their  own  little 
noises,  not  the  words  they  had  sung  in 
the  night. 

"Alack,"  said  the  tailor,  "I  have  my 
twist;  but  no  more  strength — nor  time 
— than  will  serve  to  make  me  one 
single  buttonhole;  for  this  is  Christ- 
mas Day  in  the  Morning!  The  Mayor 
of  Gloucester  shall  be  married  by  noon 


76        The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

— and  where  is  his  cherry-coloured 
coat?" 

He  unlocked  the  door  of  the  little 
shop  in  Westgate  Street,  and  Simpkin 
ran  in,  like  a  cat  that  expects  some- 
thing. 

But  there  was  no  one  there!  Not 
even  one  little  brown  mouse ! 

The  boards  were  swept  and  clean; 
the  little  ends  of  thread  and  the  little 
silk  snippets  were  all  tidied  away,  and 
gone  from  off  the  floor. 

But  upon  the  table — oh  joy!  the 
tailor  gave  a  shout — there,  where  he 
had  left  plain  cuttings  of  silk — there 
lay  the  most  beautifullest  coat  and 
embroidered  satin  waistcoat  that  ever 
were  worn  by  a  Mayor  of  Gloucester! 


77 


8o         The  Tailor  of  Gloucester 

There  were  roses  and  pansies  upon 
the  facings  of  the  coat;  and  the  waist- 
coat wras  worked  with  poppies  and 
corn-flowers. 

Everything  was  finished  except  just 
one  single  cherry-coloured  buttonhole, 
and  where  that  buttonhole  was  wanting 
there  was  pinned  a  scrap  of  paper 
with  these  words — in  little  teeny  weeny 
writing — 


NO     MORE    TWIST. 


And  from  then  began  the  luck  of  the 
Tailor  of  Gloucester;  he  grew  quite 
stout,  and  he  grew  quite  rich. 

He  made  the  most  wonderful  waist- 
coats for  all  the  rich  merchants  of 
Gloucester,  and  for  all  the  fine  gentle- 
men of  the  country  round. 


8i 


84 


The  Tailor  of  Gloucester        85 

Never  were  seen  such  ruffles,  or 
such  embroidered  cuffs  and  lappets! 
But  his  buttonholes  were  the  greatest 
triumph  of  it  all. 

The  stitches  of  those  buttonholes  were 
so  neat — so  neat — I  wonder  how  they 
could  be  stitched  by  an  old  man  in 
spectacles,  with  crooked  old  fingers,  and 
a  tailor's  thimble. 

The  stitches  of  those  buttonholes  were 
so  small — so  small — they  looked  as  if 
they  had  been  made  by  little  mice ! 


THE  END 


- 


o 


>-  C 

II 

i 

LUO 


I 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


cosies6!?!! 


-f- 


-t 

EDUC 
UMAfH 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


